Technically speaking, stairs are a means to get from one
level to another - and indeed, most staircases are quite plain and practical.
But thankfully, some architects and homebuilders have managed to combine
form and function in creating spectacular staircases that really take
it to the next level.

Take a look at these 10 wonderful examples of gorgeous staircases from
around the world:

Striking Concrete Spiral Staircase in Oyonnax, France

Journalist Tony Allen-Mills, who writes at the Wit Over Ignorance blog, noted that amongst the stark Le Corbusier-inspired blockish and fortress-like Brutalist buildings in the French town of Oyonnax (famous for having the Museum of Comb, by the way) there is this striking concrete spiral staircase set in front of a vibrant yellow wall and set of red doors.

Allen-Mills found the "glorious concrete staircase tucked almost embarrassedly behind a box-like municipal structure." He noted that it's a suprising moment of modernist inspiration that flowered amid the dour Socialist (architectural) carnage.

Casa Do Staircase

The zen-like combination of warm wood and industrial concrete work wonders
in this gorgeous spiral staircase. The minimalist staircase was designed in
2001 by renowned Chilean architect Cazú
Zegers for the Casa Do in Los Vilos, Chile.

Steel Ribbon Stairs of Büro.Loft F27

Black and white is the theme of this modern office/residential loft Büro.Loft
F27 in northern Graz, Austria. Architectural firm Schlosser
+ Partner designed these cantilevered stairs that look like a zig
zag ribbon of steel.

Oscar Niemeyer's Stairs at Palácio do Itamaraty

Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer once said, "I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. I am attracted to the free-flowing, sensual curves. The curves that I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuousness of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean, and on the body of the beloved woman. Curves make up the entire Universe, the curved Universe of Einstein."

Nothing probably symbolizes Niemeyer's celebrated curve more than the stairs that he designed for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Palácio do Iramaty in Brasilia. The sweeping spiral staircase, with shallow and deep steps with deep blue carpet and no handrail provide a commanding focus in the vast white hall.

Photo: (Top) Simon Norfolk for The New York Times | Don't miss Michael
Kimmelman's interview with Niemeyer over at The
New York Times (Bottom) Marcelo López Dinardi and Oscar Oliver
Didier of CIUDADLAB

Floating Concrete Staircase of Casa C-51

Ábaton
Arquitectura of Spain designed these floating concrete blocks of stairs
for a two-story modern home. The rough unfinished blocks of concrete provide
a striking contrast to the polished floor and white walls.

Origami Stairs (Escalier Origamique)

Architectural firm Tetrarc designed
and engineering firm Metalobil
built this double helix staircases for contemporary furniture store IDM
in Nantes, France. The double staircases, dubbed Escalier
Origamique or Origami Stairs are made from sheets of steel folded,
riveted, and suspended like a complex paperfolding structure.

Photo: Metalobil

Staggered Triangle Staircase

Left, right, left, right. Going up these sets of stairs look like a lot
of fun! Gabriella
Gustafson and Mattias Ståhlbom of TAF were faced with the need
of creating a steep staircase in a very small space for a private residence
in Stockholm, Sweden.

We'd say that the duo masterfully met that challenge with these triangular
staggered stairs made from stacked boxes of pine.

Image: Bobo Olsson

The Grand Staircase at the Musée Gustave Moreau

The artwork at the Musée Gustave Moreau in Paris, France, is not
the only thing that's breathtakingly beautiful. Behold, the grand staircase!

Gustave Moreau was a prolific 19th century French Symbolist painter (and
when we say prolific, we meant prolific - Moreau produced over
8,000 paintings, watercolors and drawings). The museum that bears his
name is actually his home and former workshop. The ornate staircase led
to Moreau's private living quarters.

Rugged Beauty of the Wooden Staircase at BIP Computers

The BIP Computers building in Santiago, Chile, is remarkable for its
heavy use of laminated plywood made from renewable pine. Designed by architect
Alberto Mozo, beauty and strength
of the wood blocks are readily apparent as in the spiral staircase shown
above.